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Month / June 2016

Eric Fornell, vice president of investment banking and capital markets at Wells Fargo Securities, advises clients in the energy and utility industries. As one of the negotiators of the Carbon Principles, Eric Fornell worked with large banks and environmental groups to establish guidelines for financing coal-fired power generating plants.

The Carbon Principles focus on reducing carbon emissions by encouraging energy efficiency, renewable sources, and low carbon energy technologies. Banks who sign the principles agree to encourage clients to invest in cost-effective renewable energy solutions as well as support regulatory changes that remove barriers to such investments.

Three clear commitments that take into account the value of avoiding carbon emissions are laid out in the principles. They include encouraging clients to consider low carbon energy alternatives, evaluating the risk of financing fossil fuel generation, and educating others in the financial and energy industries regarding the additional diligence necessary in the financing of fossil fuel generation.

Eric Fornell serves as vice chairman of investment banking at Wells Fargo Securities in New York, New York. He advises on financial matters, primarily using his expertise to serve clients in the energy and utility sectors. Additionally, Eric Fornell sat on the board of the Green Vale School on Long Island for more than a decade.

The Green Vale School is a co-ed, nonreligious, independent day school in New York. It was created almost 100 years ago by parents who sought to provide a peerless education that would serve its students for the rest of their lives. As part of the school’s commitment to true excellence, it boasts class sizes as small as eight in the younger grades, and 13 to 16 in the upper forms.

In addition to a rigorous academic curriculum, Green Vale students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of enriching hands-on learning activities. Students have access to education in the arts and theater, and there is even a wood shop.

In the woodworking studio, students as young as second graders can learn the basics of woodworking. They practice safety skills and complete projects like wooden puzzles and beautiful model sailboats.

Eric Fornell is a longtime New York investment banking executive who serves as vice chairman at Wells Fargo Securities. He provides strategic advisory services in both the energy and utility industries. In August, 2015, Eric Fornell and Wells Fargo acted as advisors in a major acquisition by the solar and wind power generator NextEra Energy Partners LP (controlled by NextEra Energy Inc.).

The $2.1 billion transaction involved the purchase of closely held NET Midstream and added seven Texas natural gas pipelines to the firm’s portfolio. It significantly added power plant fuel sales capacities, with an end market in Mexico under a 20-year Pemex ship-or-pay contract.

The scope of assets acquired encompassed 3 billion cubic feet per day of Texas shale gas production and an Eagle Ford formation pipeline. For NextEra Energy Partners, it marks a broadening of business activities from renewable-energy power assets into pipelines. One strategic reason behind the transaction involves sustained Mexican natural gas demand increases, as well as a declining domestic Mexican natural gas supply.